Mike and I have been together for seven years. Two years ago we moved in together. We know money worries in a relationship too.

He worked as an administrative clerk at a mid-sized company, and it went bankrupt nine months ago. He has been unemployed ever since.

Money worries in our relationship are a daily reality. My company has repeatedly cut hours over the past two years, salaries were reduced, and the holiday bonus and vacation pay were scrapped long ago.

Money worries in a relationship

We live in New York, and our rent has also gone up sharply twice already. So it was inevitable that money worries in our relationship would plague us. This month it has gotten really bad. We don't want to borrow from anyone, and certainly not from our parents. But the problems keep growing, and money worries in our relationship are slowly overshadowing our previously happy partnership.

Money worries in a relationship and the rent is due

We now have three days left, and then one of us has to pay the rent. So far we don't know how we're going to do it. Money worries in a relationship are not a burden shared. It's an extreme strain on each of us. But we are simply $400 short this month. By now it has become clear to us that we both need a side job, or rather that my boyfriend above all needs work again. Nothing has happened on that front so far, and that is how the money worries in our relationship came about.

Money worries in a relationship

I'll have to talk to my bank about whether I can raise my overdraft limit. I see it as the only solution right now.

Money worries in a relationship and hope dies last

Still, it's not a solution, and I think my partner simply has to take a job now, even one he doesn't like much. Because life is just expensive:

  • Rent and utilities
  • Groceries
  • Clothing
  • A vacation would be nice
  • A new couch
  • Going out costs money
  • and much more

The situation makes me very sad. Money worries in our relationship overshadow it, and by now I can feel my feelings slowly fading. So much weighs on my shoulders, and I don't feel that he carries as much of it as I do.

Maybe I'm being unfair now, because it isn't his fault, but he is incredibly picky when it comes to a new employer. He doesn't want to commute more than 30 miles and also wants a holiday bonus and vacation pay. It just doesn't work that way, and in my view he has to understand that. He has a hard time with it, being an Aries. He wants to go through the wall headfirst, but sooner or later he'll have to change, because otherwise I'm gone.